Free Ten Plagues by Mary Nealy

the burning quest for justice in her heart. It was a glorious sight. He reached up and laid his hand on her cheek and marveled at her flawless skin. He let those light blue-gray eyes that flashed humor and temper in almost equal parts wash over him.
    “You seem so familiar. I must have met you when we were both detectives.” He caressed a curl that had made a prison break. “You don’t remember—”
    A door slammed behind him. “Pastor P, you gonna be around for services t’night?”
    Paul guiltily dropped his hand.
    Rosita bounced toward them, her long black hair dangling over her shoulder in a smooth shining braid, her black eyes flashing humor and youth. In her tight, faded blue jeans and Lighthouse Mission T-shirt, she made Paul feel old and awkward, touching Keren’s hair like some flirting, addle-headed teenager.
    Rosita almost blinded them with her perky smile. “Murray’s doin’ okay, but it’s not as good as when you’re there. He’s got Buddy and Louie helping him, and I’ve got a few women picking up the slack in the kitchen, but we need you to come and order us around.”
    He thought of LaToya. How could he have wasted a second on anything else? He wheeled away from Keren, grateful for the interruption. “Murray’s going to have to keep doing it for a while. If you run into trouble, call Father Estrada. He’ll take up the slack. Rosita, come here and meet Detective Collins. She’s helping us look for the man who kidnapped LaToya.”
    Rosita’s eyes lost their sparkle as she looked at Keren. “It’s the same one that killed Juanita, isn’t it?”
    “We’re afraid it is,” Keren said. “And, Rosita, we don’t think he’s done yet. You and all the other women in this neighborhood need to be extremely careful. You mustn’t ever be out alone, day or night. We’ve increased police patrols in the area, and if you ever need a ride, you call a cop. In fact”—Keren pulled a card out of her purse—”call
me
if you can’t get anyone else to help you.”
    “I live in the mission,” Rosita said, taking the card.
    “And you never, ever go out alone?” Keren asked.
    “Well, almost never.” Rosita glanced at Keren and away. “Sometimes I got things to do, you know.”
    “Rosita,” Keren said with stern caution, “we have reason to believe these killings maybe connected to Pastor P or this mission, since both women who died came from here.”
    “But they were gone. It’s not the same as me livin’ inside.”
    “Rosita, promise me you’ll be careful.”
    Rosita shrugged. “Sure.”
    “Paul, say something.” Keren glared at him.
    For some reason that made him want to smile. “Rosita,” Paul said, “promise me.” He didn’t add anything else.
    Rosita gave him a mutinous look, then, with a huff of displeasure, she said, “I have a date with Manny tonight. I need to walk a few blocks to catch a bus.”
    “What time?” Paul asked.
    “It’s a six-o’clock bus.”
    “I’ll be here at five thirty to walk with you, and you make Manny meet you at the other end and ride back with you and walk you every step of the way back to the mission.”
    Rosita bloomed with pleasure. “You’d do that for me, Pastor P? Just so I can keep my date?”
    “Manny’s a good boy, Rosie. I don’t blame you for wanting to spend time with him.”
    Rosita smiled and deep dimples appeared in her cheeks.
    “I said he’s a good boy, but he’s still a boy. Remember what I said, Rosita, about getting too close too fast.”
    “It’s not like I’m exactly a virgin, Pastor P. You of all people know that.”
    Keren’s body jerked just a little. Paul looked at her, but he couldn’t read her expression.
    Rosita apparently had no trouble. “That’s not what I meant.” She rested a hand on Keren’s arm. “There’s nothin’ like that between the pastor and me. Never has been.”
    Paul looked closer. Keren had that detached cop expression on her face.
    “I was hooking for crack when I met Pastor